Life can come at you fast sometimes, especially in the National Hockey League.
If one year ago, somebody would have told you that Corey Perry and Evander Kane would be playing for the LA Kings in 2026, most fans would have said you’re beyond crazy.
Soon after being hired as LA’s General Manager last offseason, Ken Holland did what many thought was the unthinkable — he signed Perry as an unrestricted free agent. Truth be told, after a summer of hand-wringing and social media posturing, it’s turned out to be a good addition to coach Jim Hiller’s club.
Could Holland be on the verge of attempting to strike gold again by adding another former Oilers forward to the Kings current group?
While it’s still a rumor — something we don’t normally spend too much time on, but this was just too intriguing to not stop and give it pause for a few minutes — two separate sources over the past week have indicated to Mayor’s Manor that they believe Holland is kicking the tires on a potential Kane trade.
This is a guy who has 27 points (13G, 14A) in 37 career regular season games against the Kings. That isn’t why Holland would possibly consider adding somebody like Kane to LA’s roster, though. An acquisition of this nature would be all about the playoffs.
Putting aside the fact the Kings have stumbled their way through the Pacific Division for much of the last six weeks. Just briefly, assume they qualify for postseason play.
With that in mind, perhaps there is a little bit of ‘if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em’ going on with this thought process. Warren Foegele helped beat the Kings in the playoffs when he was with the Oilers. Ditto for Perry. Both are now in LA, as Holland has all but been given a mandate of ‘Beat the Oilers’ in the playoffs at just about any cost necessary.
Standing 6-foot-2 and checking in at 220 lbs., Kane plays a hard and heavy game. He was a nuisance to the Kings long before his four-year run in Edmonton. Now 34 years old, he’s also spent time with several other organizations over the past 15+ years, including Winnipeg, San Jose, and Buffalo.
Kane has been a central figure in the Kings-Oilers playoff matchups each of the last four years. Even after missing all of the 2024-25 regular season due to injuries (and being on LTIR), there he was in the playoffs. Late April saw his return to the Oilers lineup, just in time to meet up with the Kings.
With LA up 4-3 heading into the third period of Game 3 — and leading the series 2-0 — it was Kane’s goal that tied things up and helped springboard Edmonton to a crucial victory.
He also played an important role in Game 5. The Kings jumped out to a 1-0 lead, but it was Kane who tied things up just a few minutes later. The Oilers never looked back, winning the game and later closing out the series.
Fast forward to just a few days before July’s free agency window opened, Edmonton traded Kane to Vancouver for a fourth-round pick. He’s currently in the final year of his contract, which carries an AAV of $5.1M. That’s a number Holland and LA can easily absorb given their current cap space.
With the Canucks now openly talking about entering a rebuild, Kane’s name will most certainly start to gain attention in the rumor mill. Keep in mind, he does hold a 16-team Approved Trade List, so he’ll have some input into where he ends up should he be on the move again soon.
Could a reunion with Holland, Perry, and Foegele be in the cards? The whispers are there, we’ll have to see where it goes between now and the NHL Trade Deadline in early March.
MORE LA KINGS NEWS:
Perry Injury Could Cost Him $250k (or More), Provides No LTIR Relief for Kings
Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or interviews from this site please remember to include a link to www.MayorsManor.com
This better be a joke.
You’re a joke if you dont see that Holland could absolutely be considering this trade. A 4th for kane to give the Kings more offense and grit for po’s is a great deal for a kings team clearly stuck in the proverbial “blackhole” of po standings (6th-12th). Kings/Holland would completely sink their future by trading 1st’s and/or Greenwood to upgrade this old, slow, sinking ship to compete in these playoffs. The team is like 2-3 young world class players (1C, offensive 1D/2D, and 2C/2RW-LW) away from really competing for a Stanley Cup this year or next. Holland needs to do trades/moves that improves the bottom 6 and gets an offensive Dman. Drew has lost the “it” factor and continues to get beat by younger faster players. Clark is slow too and not experienced enough to makeup for his physical shortcomings. He will get better but not this year
Kane is exactly what the Kings do not need. Big, physical power forwards do NOT age well, and his play has already dropped off. If he was an effective power forward in his prime, Edmonton would never have dumped him.
Then there’s a lack of character and discipline with Kane in particular. Ugh.
Getting older and slower is NOT the answer! Over the hill vets aren’t a solution!
This org lives in the past, not in the here and now. Too enamored of what a player USED to be.
This org is desperate and flailing. Management and coaching need a clean out, top to bottom. Adding Kane would only further erode fan base’s will to keep watching.
I absolutely love this idea. Anyone saying that Kane would not help the Kings in a playoff push has never watched Kane play the last 20 games of any particular season. I’m not saying sign him long-term or give him a Ceci deal, but his grit is what we need. Plus he knows how to score in the playoffs look at his stats.
That’s the problem though mate, Holland would likely give him a 3 year deal.
JUST NO! we don’t want any dirty players on our team. he makes Corey Perry look like a saint.
Too much baggage! History of trouble with gambling , teammates and spouse. Not good for family friendly hockey.
Family friendly? That’s not hockey. I know the Kings already don’t fight. They did in the late 80s early 90s. Kenny Baumgarder, Marty McSorely, Jay Wells and Dave Tiger Williams. Everything has switched anytime they get a decent tough guy they trade them away. Kopitar is always getting hit and no one stands up for him. The team is soft.
Hits and fights are cool. It’s the moral compass outside the game that teaches our youth the wrong values of a game and life.
I will sell my season tickets if Kane comes to LA. Perry was a hard sell but at least he’s got a good rep among the players. KANE is a poison.
Here we go again, trading our future or current young players for aging players. We should have brought back Lombardi for the GM to clean up this mess we are in.
Holland not giving up more than a 4th (3rd if he gets too desperate) for Kane. Maybe a young guy like Mallot or Lee if there is competition from other teams for the trade